Ties by Domenico Starnone 150 pages

A friend told me to read this short, stirring novel, and I’m very happy I did. Translated from Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri, author of Interpreter of Maladies and several other outstanding reads, Ties is the story of a marriage and the impact it has on each family member. Twelve years after they marry, Aldo leaves his wife, Vanda, for a younger woman. Told through the voices of Aldo, Vanda, and their two children, Starnone brilliantly illustrates how this long term affair affects everyone, even forty years later.

Ties is a very emotionally charged book. Although there is very little action, Domenico Starnone manages in 150 pages to put a number of ideas, feelings and symbols into his novel.